I’d like to say out of the 6 or so characters I’m playing at a basic to intermediate level, Abel is the character I enjoy the most. His mix-up game is heavily linked to how smart you play which I like, however falls short when you’re playing online and the opponent likes to be random as hell with their reversals…which leads me to my topic, what is the right amount of respect you tend to give your opponents on wake-up?
So usually I’m good to judge these things by myself but it’s nice to hear some opinions from others and what they think is the better way to go about things, especially in certain match-ups as well.
I myself tend to back off I’d say, 2 out of 5 wake-ups of my opponent and attempt to bait something out. To give the impression I’m not going to do something offensive each time and make them weary to actually reversal at all. I understand Abel is heavy on making the opponent guess but I think it’s smarter to hold back in most cases and avoid being put to the floor yourself and face a comeback from one bad mix-up attempt.
If I’m ever in the shoto match-up, Ken or Ryu inparticular I tend to give MUCH more respect on wake-up, because a Shoryuken beats most of my offensive options. For some reasonthe players I come up against online absolutely love to go for reversals nearly every wake-up, and I win half the time just because of punishes to badly thought out reversals.
Interested to hear other Abel players thoughts on this.
i say vs the average player, no respect and do w/e mixup I feel/think is gonna work and back off after 2 reversals. Abel has enough health to take that kind of risk vs most characters.
Vs a good player that actually thinks, it becomes a bit different. Still no respect in terms of mixups, but have to be very Very careful about when to bait or go for safer mixups. Because if they dont dp and i try baiting or go for just jabs, a good player will take advantage of that break in momentum and they will go ham on u.
Also, join the facebook page. this is legit my first time comin back on abel forums in like a month~~~
Note that most of my experience is online, but I got lots of tips from some of my buddies too.
It’s all about using your common sense. Most of Abel’s wakeup options are high risk, high reward. But the risk is higher once the opponent has Ultra and/or 2 EX bars.
If I’ve never played my opponent before, my general rule is to give respect on the first couple of wakeups. Maybe do a late crouch-tech and that’s it. If they DP, punish them hard.
If I’ve established that they won’t take too many risks on wakeup, then I start mixing it up.
Once they get 2 EX bars or Ultra, I usually slow down again, especially if they’re almost out of life. No reason to take big risks at that point.
I’ve started to establish that same thought process, giving them respect on the first couple of wake-ups and then attempting something once I’ve established I’m not trying anything on their wake-up, up until that point of significant life lead.
Also this is off topic, but I seriously think Abel is the most improved character in USF4. I know Yun got crazy good again, but a lot of the Abel improvements flew right over everyone’s heads. He’s a top 10 candidate in my opinion.